Like most New Yorkers, rats usually take the subway. It's the quickest way to get around this grimy town, for one thing, and also brimming with delicious trash. But sometimes, for a rat-on-the-go, nothing beats a nice drive; that cool breeze in your fur, classic rock radio cranked all the way up as you plunk your feet on the dash.
Please welcome: Car Rat, the rat who really, really loves the car. Move over...nevermind.
Julianne Irene, a 35-year-old art director, tells Gothamist she was returning from a doctor's appointment in Downtown Brooklyn last month when she discovered this slender beast had taken up residence in her Toyota 4Runner.
"I was about to open the door and these guys stopped me on the street. They're like, 'Hey, do you have a pet?' I thought they were catcalling me, but then one of them goes, 'Wait, wait. Don't go in there.' That's when I saw this rat crawling around on my dashboard. I snapped a picture and literally started crying."
Her emotional reaction was heightened, Irene said, by the fact that she'd been dealing with car-rat-problems for months. Back in April, she had to pay $3,000 after finding her vehicle's electrical wiring had been chewed straight through. The parking spot she pays for in Clinton Hill is located next to a heaping pile of trash, something she said is the subject of constant fights with the lot's owner.
But this was her first face-to-snout encounter with the tormenter, and despite the help of some generous bystanders, it did not go well.
"These guys immediately start helping me. We're doing everything we can to get this fucking rat out of the car," she recalled. "I'm running to the store to buy gloves and cockroach spray. This homeless guy is just reaching for it. The others guys are trying to get it to come out from under the seat. It definitely knew it's way around."
As the good samaritans did their best to lure out the animal, Irene called 311, and was directed to call 911. No one showed up. "This thing is still in my car five hours later and it's getting dark and I'm just devastated. I didn't know what to do," the woman said.
Eventually, she phoned a neighbor, who agreed to drive over with his rat terrier. After the dog also failed to catch the stubborn pest, the neighbor offered to drive the car to the lot himself, while Irene hitched a ride back home.
Shortly after, she obtained some rat poison from Home Depot, "totally bombed the car with it," then brought it to a mechanic three days later. You can watch the outcome of that development below.
RIP Car Rat. We hope you're driving a midsize SUV in heaven.
